About

Lets start at the beginning, Ian is my name but Hurley isn’t. My first taste for bigger boats came when I was 16 in the 1960’s and a friend of mine got us regular access to his fathers 20′ Hurley yacht which was moored off the Pandora Inn at Restronget near Falmouth. Neither of us were very experienced, me with canoes and Enterprise dingy, he as a passenger on the yacht. We took it out to sea on a regular basis and always returned unscathed. We were both obviously barking mad.

The next years I had little to do with sail except two holidays on the Norfolk broads, one with Marthams Javelin and the other with a 27′ power boat, and another hiring a brand new Westerly Centaur in Scotland. I did a little windsurfing as well until my wet suit shrank.

Then came the great mistake – I bought a Hurley off ebay.

Hurley 20?

Not too bad on the outside? Sold as a 1978 Hurley 20. George Hurley went into liquidation in 1974 but some of the moulds went to others like Russell Marine so it was a possibility. I checked – it was a 1964 Hurley Felicity. It had a number of structural issues, all of which I could sort in due course. I decided to take it out of the water for repair and decided to motor from Wroxham to Wayford Bridge where it would be lifted out. A disaster of a trip. The Yamaha outbord ran well for a while but then it would stop suddenly. I would restart and after a shorter time would stop. It was also losing power. At Irstead it gave up completly. I got the paddle out that came with the boat to paddle to the side. The blade fell off and floated away! I was now up a creek and without a paddle!

I decided that this must be some sort of omen and sold the boat. (The new owner did nothing to it, sailed it for a season, and sold it for three times the price he gave me,)

I decided I would still like a boat but the Hurley had given me a taste of boat costs, £150 licence, £400 mooring fees, insurance, maintainance etc. That is when i started looking for a boat.

The Hurley had given me an idea of the new boats specification. It had to be able to be put on a trailer and launched easily by one person. I wanted a stable boat. It would have to have accomodation for two although not luxury, just enough for an overnight and somewhere out of the rain. After my experiences in Cornwall I also wanted a bilge keel configuration so it could dry out on a tidal mooring. Eventually that led me to Paul Fishers Lynx 14 as a basis.

I bought the plans and started sourcing materials. Gosh isn’t marine ply and epoxy expensive? I sold my classic Citroen Deux Chevaux that I had restored some years before to finance the start of the boat – and that also gave me the name for the boat. (I will add a page sometime about the cars restoration in the future.)

12 Responses to “About”

Hi Ian, The blog has got off to a good start, very funny, have fun wth the rest. Any chance of a link to http://port-na-storm.blogspot.com/ the build is going very slowly, hope to see you at Barton Turf cheers,
Graham.

Hi Ian,
I’ve got one of these!
Mine’s gunter rigged with wooden yards and leeboards instead of the dagger plates.
I’ve had it for a couple of years now. I didn’t build it initially, although of course it’s an ongoing project and I modify it a bit each year!
Good to see another one.

Good to hear Bill – I don’t know where in the country (world) you are but why not bring your boat along to a UKHBBR event. The first one is at Barton Broad in Norfolk 23rd – 25th May 2009. You would be most welcome.
Regards

Hi Ian,
I’ve been a student of small craft design for a number of years and have concentrated mainly on canoe/kayak designs.
My time afloat has been split, curiously, between paddling K1/K2 kayaks in marathon races and racing offshore in large and expensive yachts (My brother in Law is very well off!).
Of late, I have been working on a cruising dinghy design, which presents a unique set of challenges. The lines I am happy with, the sail plan, well sort of, but the accomodation is something else! To marry aesthetics with seaworthiness, reasonable accomodation, and safety issues (buoyancy tanks etc.) is something between a Times crossword and a game of Buckaroo! But a delightful challenge nonetheless.
The Lynx 14 has been one of my areas of study and I found your excellent blog via the S-F website.
I intend to go more trad than stitch & glue but your pix have been well worth a long and concentrated gaze!
Thanks for posting all that – very useful.
Please get in touch if you wish, and I’ll send you some pix of the proposed design.
I’ve also owned a couple of 2CV’s, one from new!! Wish I still had it. Probably the only car which fulfilled its design brief to the full. I hope I can emulate that with my cruising dinghy.
Take care, and enjoy the festive bit.
Charlie Morgan

Hi Charlie
I am glad my record of build has given you some useful lines of though and pictures you found worth a look. The boat has not been afloat for long but I hope to have a full seasons use next year. I am doing some mods to it over the winter and will post part 3 when it is done before this years launch which I hope you and others will find of use. I’ll be in touch for an update of your progress in the new year, good luck with it whatever you decide to build!
Regards
Ian

Just came across the Duckworks website and on to the Lynx 16 and yourself. Congratulations on your successful build and a nice looking craft. I am looking for a similar sized boat for trailer sailing in the northern US. I’ll usually be on the larger inland lakes, approximately 20-30 square miles. Wind is typically 10-20 knots. From your experience so far, would you think the Lynx would be a good craft for my purpose. Thanks for taking the time to post your blog & photos.
Bill Hanchett
Northern Michigan, US

Hi Bill = glad you like the look of the boat. Firstly this boat has been ideal to trail – it is fairly light and easily towed. On the water it is a small craft and small craft are not best suited to big winds. That said the hull is very stable indeed, even more so with the ballast that I have added to mine. Before I put the ballast in I did a test to see what would happen in a knock down situation and pulled the boat over so the mast was actually lying on the staithe then let go and the boat immediatly self righted. My sail is based on the Enterprise sail and moves the boat very well in light airs. I have had one big reef added and would make use of that at about the 15 knot (ish) mark. I have been out in a force six but kept my sails down as so much water was comming over the bows as it crashed through the waves so kept to the outboard.
So the short answer = yes with ballast added and the ability to reef the sail when appropriate.
Regards
Ian

Hi Ian, Thanks for the comments about Diddy-Da. It is strange, I constructed the website to provide a means to relay information about my forthcoming trip to Africa and nearly everyone has found the exploits of Diddy-Da more interesting.
As you can see I have been somewhat occupied over the last few years with other projects and have not had much time to sail my boat. It rests in my garage until I can find more time in my busy life.

I have to say I am not surprised – most people use a 14′ boat inland and not crossing the North Sea in dubious conditions – the other things you do are equally amazing but mountains and long distance cycling is beyond me! A day sailing on the Norfolks Broads is enough for me. Well done!
Ian
And for those who want to see what Diddy-Da has accomplished seehttp://www.warnersworld.net/?page_id=534

HI Ian, My name is Jason I’m from Kansas City Missouri in the United States. I have a 1969 Hurley Silhouette MKIII. I’ve been slowing restoring it to its original showroom condition. I wonder if you might be able to help me with a few questions. Can you tell me the max weight load my Hurley can handle? I just noticed that I would take on water in the cock pit from my drain holes. I’m guessing this is because of the load I had aboard. Also, I was wondering if you might be able to direct me in where I can find the other interior design models specifications or pictures that I can decipher. Currently I just have 2 berths and nothing else. It would be an honor to hear from the legend that you are with the Hurley name. Thank you for viewing.